In statement marking event, premier urges country to focus on market needs

Chinese brands are pumping vitality into the national economy and are building strong competitiveness, as could be seen at the 2021 China Brand Day exhibition on Monday in Shanghai.

Meanwhile, Premier Li Keqiang has called on the country to focus on the needs of the market, especially those of consumers, and to work on innovation and pursue excellence as its businesses are committed to building their brands.

Li made the statement in a written instruction for the Monday event marking the fifth China Brand Day event.

He stressed the need for all localities and relevant departments to build brands when opening wider to the outside world and participating in international fair competition.

The premier called for improving the quality and overall competitiveness of the country's products and services so as to make more Chinese brands a reliable choice for domestic and foreign markets.

Strengthening brand building and enhancing Chinese brands' influence and competitiveness are among the important measures taken to optimize supply, expand demand, and promote high-quality development, he said.

Apart from the fixed theme of "China Brand, World Sharing", the three-day event ending on Wednesday is focused on "Dual Circulation, Leading New Consumption". Nineteen themed exhibition areas of State-owned enterprises bear witness to their significance in stabilizing economic development, promoting technological innovation, serving people's livelihoods, and going global with made-in-China products.

The shield tunneling machine provides a case in point.

"We have seen the creation, optimization and development of Chinese made shield tunneling machines... (and) we will continue to work hard on building the Chinese shield tunneling machine brand and provide experience for a high-end equipment manufacturing upgrade," Jia Lianhui, chief engineer at China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co Ltd, told China National Radio.

Chinese automobile giant SAIC Motor Corp Ltd, which has been transitioning into a technological enterprise, brought the latest technologies, including its SOA(service-oriented architecture) software platform to China Brand Day.

Aiming to build a world-class automotive group, SAIC Motor wants to invest 300 billion yuan ($46.8 billion) in innovations including intelligent and electric development during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period.

Ding Shizhong, board chairman and CEO of Anta Group, said the competitiveness of Chinese brands going overseas no longer relies on their affordable prices, but on quality, value and branding.

"It's a new chapter for Chinese brands to win by value and innovations when expanding their presences globally," Ding said.

Anta, a major sportswear brand under the Anta Group, has established a sports lab to collect data nationwide for its research and development as well as to fuel its innovations. So far, Anta's lab has applied for more than 1,800 patents.

To attract youthful, Generation Z consumers, Anta has consistently used technology to design innovative products, including sneakers with a new"3D flow system" to better support movement during sports activities.

Although Chinese brands have been affected by the pandemic, they have continued their brand building investment to develop their business overseas. Meanwhile, top Chinese brands have seen continued growth in awareness of their brands in developed markets, according to the Top 50 Kantar BrandZ Chinese Global Brand Builders 2021 ranking report issued by Google and Kantar on Monday.

Chinese brands are generally stronger in developed markets, but some categories－including transportation apps, cars and e-commerce－are doing particularly well in emerging markets.

According to the ranking report, the Top 10 Chinese global brand builders are Alibaba, ByteDance, Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo, OPPO, Hisense, Haier, OnePlus and Vivo.

"Over the years, we have seen that Chinese companies that have invested in building their brands, are able to achieve sustainable, quality growth and find resilience during financially stressed times," said Annabel Lin, managing director of China solution specialists and APAC international growth at Google.

"During this challenging year, those brands have managed to stay the course and increased their trust and relevance with consumers around the globe," Lin added.

More than 600 domestic enterprises are taking part in the event at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, with exhibits taking up 25,000 square meters.